It's been nearly two years since I discovered Katawa Shoujo and first played Lilly's route. If only I could forget everything about KS and experience it all again.. Thank you 4LS for touching my feels where they've never been touched before.

And yet she is shown to be able to make verbal noises in her own route. Which implies she's not completely mute. Muteness means you're unable to make any sound at all. Ergo, she's deaf and mute by choice, not a deaf-mute. Actually, most mute people can typically make verbal sounds. Mutism refers to...

Aaaactually, Shizune makes an attempt to stifle noises she's making in the VN. Which implies she's mute by choice (would you want to try talking if you couldn't hear yourself?) Mute would imply she can't make any verbal noises. So she's deaf and mute by choice, not deaf/mute. I think she is definit...

Before playing Shizune's route, I had the same thoughts about Misha as you did. Once you play through Shizune's route though, you'll learn a lot about Misha which will (hopefully) change your perception of her. In my opinion, Shizune's route focus more on her relationship with Misha rather than Hisa...